Washington: Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for Covid-19 after returning from a trip to California, the White House announced on Tuesday, at a time when the US has largely lifted most of its restrictions against the deadly pandemic. Harris, 57, has exhibited no symptoms and will isolate at home. She has not been a "close contact" with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden. "Today, Vice President Harris tested positive for Covid-19 on rapid and PCR tests. She has exhibited no symptoms, will isolate and continue to work from the vice president's residence," said Kirsten Allen, the vice president's press secretary, in a statement.
Allen added, "She has not been in close contact with the President or First Lady due to their respective recent travel schedules. She will follow CDC guidelines and the advice of her physicians. The Vice President will return to the White House when she tests negative." Harris arrived at the White House Tuesday morning, a White House official was quoted as saying by CNN, and went straight to take a test. After testing positive on both PCR and rapid tests, she returned home to her residence at the Naval Observatory, where she will be isolating.
Separately, an official said Harris last saw Biden at the Easter Egg Roll on April 18. She left Washington for California that afternoon and didn't return until Monday night, the report added. Harris has received her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine weeks before taking office and a second dose just days after Inauguration Day in 2021. She received a booster shot in late October and an additional booster on April 1. Harris, the daughter of an Indian immigrant from Chennai, scripted history in 2021 by becoming the first-ever woman Vice President of the United States. She is a former Senator from California is also the first Black and first South Asian American vice president.
Also read: Kamala Harris tests negative for Coronavirus
Her positive Covid-19 test comes as the US has largely lifted most of its Covid-19 mitigation measures after the Omicron variant spike over the winter. In accordance with federal public health guidelines, officials and visitors have not been required to wear masks or socially distance themselves at large White House events. Covid cases in Washington have declined since their peak in early January, when the country was facing a wave of Omicron variant cases, but have been rising recently, the report added.
Covid-19 has also been making the rounds among White House staff and among the Washington elite recently. The diagnosis comes weeks after her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, tested positive. Earlier this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is vaccinated and boosted, announced she had tested positive. A total of 81,049,455 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the US and the death toll stands at 991,670, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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